new here. Introduction to Billy

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ctonjes

Member Since 2014
Hello,

I just got the news that my 7 year old cow cat, Billy, is diabetic. He is slightly overweight, 7 years old, and very active for his age. I am sorry to say that due to my spoiling him he also has some very bad eating prefernces which I am trying to modify. For example, he will no longer eat most wet food. He also is way too fond of certain people food (fried chicken, hamburgers, slices of turkey, ham, and roast beef).

I am undaunted by the care requirements for a diabetic cat, since i recently lost my 19 year old siamese to kidney failure which was diagnosed when he was 15. So through careful monitoring and treatment he had good quality of life until the end (he died peacefully in his sleep and his last days were pretty good. he ate normally and was able to see, hear, and walk around and jump onto small things). So I have the time and resources to commit to good care. But I am kind o scared and feel very guilty about this. He is a wonderful pet, very smart, loves everyone and everything, and just a lot of fun to be around. Most nights he sleeps contentedly at the foot of my bed, waking me promptly at 4 for food. He is my best bud, and 7 is young to me.

I have an excellent cat only vet.

How can I get him back on canned food? Are there any cat treats that are Ok for diabetic cats?
 
my cat is newly diagnosed also. i know how you feel. this group has been wonderful for me. it has only been a week for me so i am not an expert. i am sure you will get many wonderful suggestions. don't feel guilty, i am sure we all do! you are doing what's best for Billy now! good luck!
 
Hi and welcome to FDMB.

Receiving a diagnosis of feline diabetes can be scary and overwhelming. However, it is something that can easily be managed through diet, hometesting and insulin.

The diet should be a low carb/high protein diet, either canned or raw food. Many of feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies canned pate flavors. You want to avoid any canned food with gravy in it. They are higher in carbs. Also, if Billy is eating any dry food, you want to also start to remove that from his diet also. Dry food is high in carbs and even a few pieces can cause the blood glucose (BG) levels to rise.

Next is hometesting. This is done using a glucose meter to test a sample of Billy's blood before every shot of insulin. You test to determine if it is safe to give the insulin and also to tell how well the dose is working. Most people use human glucose meters instead of pet glucose meters. They both work well, however, the pet versions are expensive to buy and use. A good human meter is the Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro meters. They are inexpensive to buy and use. If your vet will not show you how to test, don't worry, we can help you. Also, don't be surprised if your vet tries to discourage hometesting. Unfortunately a lot of them do this. Look at it this way, if Billy was your child, would you give insulin without knowing it is safe to give the shot? You are the one in charge of Billy's care.

There are several good insulins that work well in cats. Lantus and Levemir are human insulins that you will buy at your pharmacy. If your vet prescribes either one of these, ask for the prescription for the pens instead of vial. It will last longer and there is also coupons on the manufacturer's websites that will save you some money. PZI and Prozinc are pet insulins that also work well. You will get these from your vet. All are slow acting insulins that cats respond well to. For your dose, you want to start low and go slow. This means you start at a low dose, 1 unit twice a day, and over a period of weeks you may gradually need to increase it. To determine if your dose needs to be adjusted, the hometesting will tell you.

I know it is scary and overwhelming right now, but we can help you get through this. Ask any questions you may have. We have all been where you are now and are here to help.
 
picgifs-welcome-2-566738.gif
to the wonderful world of the FDMB!!!!


As for treats.....if you can get him off of fried chicken and used boiled or baked chicken that would be best. I am also guessing most of his other favorite ppl food is not going to be diabetes friendly. I tried all kinds of the expensive freeze dried treats for Skooter and he turned his nose up to all of them. In the end, baked chicken is his favorite....I also will give him a little turkey when I have it made.

I lucked out with Skooter when I transitioned him from dry to wet (he will eat ANYTHING) lol. I have heard that people who have difficulty transitioning will crumble a little dry on top to get them used to it, and also have heard of some people using Fortiflora - just a touch sprinkled on top - to get them to eat the wet.

Make sure the wet food is low carb...you can find a listing of cat foods with carbs at http://www.catinfo.org I BELIEVE anything under 10% is considered low carb....but if you are already giving insulin, do not change his diet to wet until home testing as the wet food alone can drop their BG by 100 mg/dL.

Are you currently giving insulin? If so, what kind, how much and how often?
 
Cat Info has a lot of tips on transitioning to wet food too - it isn't easy with some cats!

Active play of 15-20 minutes before meals may trigger the hunt-catch-kill-eat-groom-sleep behavior cycle which may motivate eating a bit.

Warming up the food to just killed temp makes it smell more and may help.

A sprinkle of Parmasen chese or crushed dry food on the food may help.
 
Hi, not giving him insulin yet. He is going to the vet again next week where we will figure this out.

A word on his eating habits - he used to love canned food, and ate almost anything. I opened a can of fancy feast chicken and beef thinking he would like it and he ate a bit and then stopped. So I did give him a bit of low sodium hilshire farm turkey breast which he loved and some cat treats.

he also eats royal canin dry food for the most part (he does love fancy feast dry food).

I will but a couple of different types of canned food to see if he will try them.

He loves his self watering device! He will stare and at it ans sometimes fall asleep right near it.
 
One other fact (and this is the big problem). He probably won't let me inject him (I can't cut his nails - he is the first cat I have ever had that won't let me do this and becuase he is so big and storing this is an ordeal that leaves me looking like a heroin addict (bite marks, scratches, etc all over my hands and arms).


-Chris
 
Welcome. Good advice has been given already, and I'm relatively new to "the dance"... but I wanted to comment on your last concern - re: your kitty not letting you test.

I thought there was NO WAY my super timid Tink was going to tolerate ear pokes and needle jabs on a several-times-a-day basis. This is a cat that my closest friends barely knew I had - he makes himself invisible the second anyone enters the house. He loves DD and me... but other humans were strictly off limits. He was VERY sick when diagnosed, which probably helped - but he's been perfectly fine with testing and injections. I clip my cats claws too... and I have one that I have to wrap up like a burrito to do so - and I still usually bleed. But I'm confident that I could even inject him if I ever needed to. It's a VERY different thing. Cats tend to be protective of their feet/claws for some reason. The scruff or other shooting sites are of less concern to kitty. Tink seems to feel the test pokes more than the injection poke. But a freeze dried treat is enough to have him coming to me for both.

I use PureBites 100% freeze dried treats - they have no carbs, just freeze dried meat. Some folks use other things - but watch those carbs. MOST of the normal cat treats on the market are loaded with them. Tink really loves the CRUNCH that the freeze dried treats have, being a former dry food addict.

I would suggest, while awaiting your insulin prescription, to start gently rubbing and touching your kitty's ears and scruff - to get him used to it. This might make it easier once you have a needle in your hand. :)
 
Oh he loves having his head rubbed and the base of is ears scratched. This might be easier than I thought
 
I kind of rub Tink's face/head as I'm holding him - he thinks it's more about pets that restraint. :) If I dont, he tends to move his head at JUST the wrong moment and mess the whole thing up (blood smears or doesn't go all the way up the strip, or the strip flies out of the machine, etc). At least with MY meter (Relion Prime - the cheapest option I know of), you HAVE to get ALL the blood into the test strip in one smooth move. You can't draw up a little, then hesitate even a microsecond. I get an error message EVERY TIME that it doesn't take all the blood it needs at once. On the bright side...you need a VERY small drop - and once you've done it a few times, you can see if it's big enough or not. I've heard others who get the blood bead onto their fingernail or something and then draw it up - which might be easier with a fidgety cat. I haven't had to do that yet - I just draw it up straight off the ear. I do have to keep his ear tips shaved though - which he hates shaving days. But it's quick and I use my electric razor so there's not much chance of cutting him. One of those little personal groomer things would probably work very well too. That's if your cat has ear tufts like Mr Tink does. :)
 
What!!! You can rub his ears!!! You are a step ahead of most newbies.

Welcome to the Forum that will help you manage a very manageable disease. We do it every day!!

So you already know that you need to transition Billy to pate foods or raw as these are low carb foods which are essential for sugarcats. And I am guessing that you know that the dry food has to go as well. Dry food is not only high carb but bad for felines for many other reasons.

So to start, getting Billy on a low carb diet before insulin is good and then start to touch the tip of his ears and outer edge as that is where many of us test. Use freeze-dried treats (mine love the Orijen treats). You could use the boiled chicken pieces as treats but in the long run, cooked chicken is not a stable diet. You can relate the treat to the ear touching. My sugar comes to the testing table and practically shoves his ear in my hand - all for treats!!! We couldn't do it without them.
 
Thanks! i just bought a small bag of orijen red regional cat treats. I pray he will go for them. One great irony of this situation is that I was headed towards diabetes until I lost 50 lbs and changed my eating habits to low carb, no soda, infrequent red meat, no eating after 7, etc. i feel really guilty that he is not doing so well.


He used to love various kinds of canned fancy feast so maybe he will go back to them. I have some phosphate binder left, maybe I should mix this in? His kidney values were normal though.
 
I wouldn't worry about the binder. I have some too but when I found out my civvies kidney values were better than expected I stopped giving it. The binder can cause constipation so you would also have to be giving Miralax.

The Orijen original treats are great!!! None of my kitties liked any of the other freeze-dried treats until I found these. Now I have to lock them up.

Is Billy thirsty? If you mix a lot of water in the pate foods, he might be attracted to the fluids and eat the food with it. If he just laps the water out then re-hydrate it until the food is gone.

This is a very good start.
 
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